Democratic Party Beliefs

The Democratic Party was organized by Thomas Jefferson in the late 1700s. The Democratic National Committee Platform is based around a set of common beliefs that the party as a whole stands for. The platform states, “Our vision is simple. We want an America that gives all Americans the chance to live out their dreams and achieve their God-given potential. We want an America that is still the world’s strongest force for peace and freedom. And we want an America that is coming together around our enduring values, instead of drifting apart.” One of the strongest beliefs of the Democratic Party is that of equality on all fronts. Democrats believe in equal opportunity despite race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation. They also believe in equal educational opportunity for all. They believe in protecting the environment from those who would exploit it for its resources due to the belief that the destruction of our ecosystem would mean the destruction of mankind. They believe in a larger tax gap between classes, as well as a significant decrease in government spending. They believe in a woman’s right to choose whether or not to have an abortion, as well as universal access to health care. Democratic Party beliefs are centered around the hope to renew a sense of community among Americans to improve opportunity for the general public, stating “Today’s Democratic Party is determined to renew America’s most basic bargain: Opportunity to every American, and responsibility from every American. And today’s Democratic Party is determined to reawaken the great sense of American community.”

Democratic Views On Gay Marriage

The Democratic Party supports full equality under the law for same-sex couples. This includes not only the right to marriage, but also the right to the same financial benefits as all married couples. However, Democrats believe that gay marriage should be left a state issue. They disagree with having a federal mandate for legalizing gay marriage as much as they disagree with a federal ban on gay marriage, stating, “in our country, marriage has been defined at the state level for 200 years, and we believe it should continue to be defined there.” This being said, Democrats would prefer to see gay marriage legalized in every state, stating, “we oppose discriminatory federal and state constitutional amendments and other attempts to deny equal protection of the laws to committed same-sex couples who seek the same respect and responsibilities as other married couples. We support…the passage of the Respect for Marriage Act.” Democrats also believe that religious entities should be allowed to make decisions about marriage as a religious sacrament on their own, due to the separation of Church and state. The 2012 Democratic Party Platform states, “we support the right of all families to have equal respect, responsibilities, and protections under the law. We support marriage equality and support the movement to secure equal treatment under law for same-sex couples.”

Democratic Views On Immigration

The Democratic Parties opinion on immigration is based on the idea that the United States is a country built around immigrants, and as such it should value and support its present and future immigrants. The 2012 Democratic Party Platform states, “the Democratic Party stands for comprehensive immigration reform that intelligently prioritizes our country’s security and economic needs.” Democrats believe that in order to embrace and allow for the continuation of the diversity in our country, “we need to fix our broken immigration system.” They believe in providing a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, especially those who were brought here as children. They wish to greatly reform the current immigration laws, stating that “today’s immigration laws do not reflect our values or serve our security, and we will work for real reform. The solution is not to establish a massive new status of second-class workers; that betrays our values and hurts all working people. Undocumented immigrants within our borders who clear a background check, work hard and pay taxes should have a path to earn full participation in America.” Democrats do not believe that just any illegal immigrant should be provided amnesty or a path to citizenship. They state that undocumented workers who “are in good standing must admit that they broke the law, pay taxes and a penalty, learn English, and get right with the law before they can get in line to earn their citizenship.” Democrats believe in providing priority to immigrants who already have family in the United States, in order to reunite families more quickly. They also hope to “offer more English-language and civic education classes so immigrants can assume all the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.” They support a reform of the INS, so that it can provide better services to immigrants. They support investing resources in the INS to reduce the wait time for immigrants, which currently sits at approximately two years, to a more reasonable timeline such as three months. Democrats believe in reforming asylum policies, believing that we should have “equitable asylum policies that treat people the same whether they have fled violence from the Right and Left.” They believe that immigrants are currently facing a lack of due process protections, and wish to see these protections restored, so that immigrants cannot face deportation due to minor offenses, “and are eligible to receive safety net services supported by their tax dollars.”

Democratic Views On The Death Penalty

Democratic views on the death penalty revolve around the opinion that it must only be used in certain cases. The 2012 Democratic Party Platform stated, “we believe that the death penalty must not be arbitrary. DNA testing should be used in all appropriate circumstances, defendants should have effective assistance of counsel, and the administration of justice should be fair and impartial.” Previous Democratic platforms have stated, “in all death row cases, we encourage thorough post-conviction reviews. We will put the rights of victims and families first again. And we will push for more crime prevention, to stop the next generation of crime before it’s too late.” As a party, Democrats believe that stricter punishment, such as the death penalty, work as a preventative measure to keep crime from happening to begin with. Democrats strongly support the death penalty in cases of those who have murdered policemen and terrorists. Bill Clinton and Al Gore fought to have this punishment put into place for these criminals. The party is currently divided on whether or not the death penalty should be applied to all convicted murderers. However, not all Democrats share this view. Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsome of California says, “I think we should repeal the death penalty. It’s not a deterrent; there are racial components to it.” Martin O’Malley, governor of Maryland, believes similarly. He says “It’s wasteful. It’s ineffective. It doesn’t work to reduce violent crime.”

Democratic Views On Abortion

The Democratic Party believes firmly in a woman’s right to decide whether or not to abort a pregnancy. The Democratic views on abortion strongly support Roe vs. Wade, and include a woman being given the right to abort a pregnancy regardless of whether or not she is able to pay for it. The party strongly opposes any efforts or legislation that might undermine this right, stating, “abortion is an intensely personal decision between a woman, her family, her doctor, and her clergy; there is no place for politicians or government to get in the way.” However, the party also supports initiatives to decrease the number of unintended or unwanted pregnancies. Because of this they support sex education programs that explain birth control options and how couples can obtain them. They also support programs such as Planned Parenthood that help those in need of birth control options reduce the cost and feel comfortable asking questions. They do hope to reduce the number of abortions being performed, but not at the cost of a mother’s right to choose. The party has stated, “our goal is to make abortion more rare, not more dangerous. We support contraceptive research, family planning, comprehensive family life education, and policies that support healthy childbearing.” They believe that health care should be provided to expecting mothers who are in financial need whether they choose to abort or to carry their child to term. They believe that every pregnant woman should be supported, “by providing affordable health care and ensuring the availability of and access to programs that help women during pregnancy and after the birth of a child, including caring adoption programs.” They believe that the way to “join 36 other industrialized nations in making sure everyone has access to affordable health care” is with health care reform. They hope to do this by “fixing the prescription drug program and investing in stem cell and other medical research.” On the topic of stem cell research, Democrats state, “we believe in investing in life saving stem cell and other medical research that offers real hope for cures and treatment for millions of Americans.”

Democratic Views On Education

The Democratic Party is dedicated to reforming the educational system in the United States. Democratic views on education include tax benefits and reformed financial aid programs for college tuition, saving and creating more teaching jobs, expand education options for low-income youth, and revamping standardized testing to test more complex skills. Democrats hope to turn around the public school system and make it more successful and sustainable. They hope to expand public school options for low-income children by creating and maintaining more magnet schools, charter schools, teacher-led schools, and career academies. They also hope to increase the number of teachers and the respect that teachers receive, to improve the quality of instruction that kids are receiving. In their 2012 platform, Democrats stated, “Because there is no substitute for a great teacher at the head of a classroom, the President helped school districts save more than 400,000 educator jobs. We Democrats honor our nation’s teachers. If we want high-quality education for all our kids, we must listen to the people who are on the front lines. The President has laid out a plan to prevent more teacher layoffs while attracting and rewarding great teachers. This includes raising standards for the programs that prepare our teachers, recognizing and rewarding good teaching, and retaining good teachers. We also believe in carefully crafted evaluation systems that give struggling teachers a chance to succeed and protect due process.” The Democratic Party supports public school choice, including charter schools and magnet schools that meet the same high standards as other schools. They believe that the alternative of pushing private school vouchers takes dollars away from public schools, making school choice the far better option. They hope to build new schools and provide them with the technology and equipment for a modern education to fulfill this goal. The Democratic Party hopes to see college within the reach of every student. They took on banks to reform the student loan program and cut out the middleman in student lending, allowing them to “better and more directly invest in students.” They also doubled the investment in Pell Grant scholarships and created the American Opportunity Tax Credit. Democrats believe that these financial moves will make college more accessible to children from lower-income families. They also hope to create programs that will allow students to manage their federal student loans so that their payment is as low ass 10 percent of their monthly income. The 2012 Democratic Platform stated, “We Democrats also recognize the economic opportunities created by our nation’s community colleges. That is why the President has invested in community colleges and called for additional partnerships between businesses and community colleges to train two million workers with the skills they need for good jobs waiting to be filled.” Furthermore, the Democratic Party would like to see federal loan interest rates reduced greatly. Democrats hope to use standardized testing to advance education, but in a different way than they’re being used now. They believe the current form of standardized testing advances bureaucracy more than it advances education, and hope to “use testing to advance real learning, not undermine it, by developing high-quality assessments that measure the complex skills students need to develop. We will make sure that federal law operates with high standards and common sense, not just bureaucratic rigidity.”

Democratic Views On Gun Control

The Democratic Party wishes to see a stricter regulation of firearms, especially assault weapons. The Democratic views on gun control are centered around the belief that “the right to own firearms is subject to reasonable regulation.” The Democratic Party hopes to “focus on effective enforcement of existing laws, especially strengthening our background check system, and…work together to enact commonsense improvements–like reinstating the assault weapons ban and closing the gun show loophole–so that guns do not fall into the hands of those irresponsible, law-breaking few.” The 2012 Democratic Party Platform did explain that the Democratic Party does not wish to override the second amendment. Instead, they wish to see gun control reform that they believe lies within the scope of the second amendment, stating, “We recognize that the individual right to bear arms is an important part of the American tradition, and we will preserve Americans’ Second Amendment right to own and use firearms.” The Democratic Party hopes to see a good deal of gun control legislation in the future. Their goals include to incorporate mental-health criteria into the existing law regarding who can and cannot own guns. They hope to expand the federal prohibition on gun sales to include those convicted of misdemeanor stalking. They also hope to prohibit gun sales to those receiving involuntary mental health services on an outpatient basis, if a court deems them dangerous. Many states have already implemented these restrictions on a state-level basis. Democrats also hope to see states grant money to help local authorities bolster gun-violence prevention programs.

Democratic Views On Health Care

The Democratic view on health care is based around the idea that “accessible, affordable, high quality health care is part of the American promise, that Americans should have the security that comes with good health care.” Democrats believe that no American should have to face financial destitution because they fall ill or get injured, stating that “no one should have to choose between taking their child to a doctor and paying the rent.” They are firm supporters of laws that prevent insurance companies from covering Americans with pre-existing medical conditions, capping or cancelling coverage, or charging women more due simply to gender. They also support allowing young Americans who are just entering the workforce to stay on their parents’ health care plans. They believe in preserving Medicare benefits for seniors. Democrats are strong supporters of the Affordable Care Act and of strengthening Medicare. Democrats stand in support of stem cell research, as well as other medical research, as a means to develop cures and treatments. They also support tax credits to businesses who offer quality, affordable healthcare, and tax credits to Americans who are approaching 65 and are not working, so that they can continue to afford healthcare until their Medicare benefits come into effect.

One of the most well-known Democratic contributions to healthcare reform is the Affordable Care Act. President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act in 2010. This act greatly reformed healthcare, and is strongly supported by the Democratic Party. Democrats state that “the Affordable Care Act has already begun to end the worst insurance company abuses,” and that “like Medicare before it, the Affordable Care Act lays a new foundation for our country that will bring additional security and stability to the American people for generations to come.” Besides providing benefits to all Americans, Democrats consider the end to discrimination against pre-existing conditions to be the most important aspects of the Affordable Care Act. The act also increased the transparency of the insurance industry. Democrats state “the insurance industry will be more transparent than ever, with summaries of coverage and premiums available for every plan in the marketplace.” They pride themselves on the fact that it is reducing the cost of healthcare to middle- and lower-class Americans, and have called the act “the largest middle-class tax cut for health care in history.” Democrats believe that the tax benefits offered to small businesses will offset the costs of increasing coverage, and will minimize the economical impact that the act has on these businesses and the economy as a whole.

They believe that the benefits of the Affordable Care Act will also reduce the cost of healthcare to the federal government, “reducing our deficit by more than $1 trillion in the next two decades alone.” They support this supposition with the fact that “since the law passed, health care costs are growing at the slowest rate on record stretching back to 1960.” They also believe that the healthcare reform is benefiting Medicare, stating that it “strengthens Medicare by reducing fraud, improving quality of care, and closing the Medicare “donut hole” gap in seniors’ prescription drug coverage.”

Democrats on Medicare

As stated in the 2012 Democratic platform, “Democrats believe that Medicare is a sacred compact with our seniors.” Democrats support preserving and strengthening the current institution of Medicare. They believe that “America’s seniors have earned their Medicare and Social Security through a lifetime of hard work and personal responsibility,” and should therefore reap the benefits of those earnings. They support President Obama’s plans to preserve Medicare. They oppose efforts to privatize Medicare, as well as plans to voucherize it. They also oppose plans to raise the amount of money seniors are paying into Medicare.

They are strongly in support of reforming Medicare part D, so that it ensures better coverage of prescription drugs to seniors and does more to bring down the cost of prescription drugs, as it currently does very little to lower these costs. Democrats believe that drug companies should not be allowed to change prescription costs more often than seniors can change their Medicare D plans. Democrats believe that the current structure and failings of Medicare D are what is driving seniors into HMOs. They believe that “elderly Americans deserve a real prescription drug benefit – one that uses the government’s purchasing power to lower costs and ensures access to new therapies for their illnesses.”

Democratic Views On Homeland Security

The Democratic Party believes that there are less aggressive ways to handle these threats than many that have been used in the past. Democratic Views on homeland security include combating terrorism without compromising the Constitution with the use of torture, always attempting to solve conflict through diplomacy and using military force only when necessary, increasing benefits for military members, and increasing border security measures. Democrats would also like to see military members trained to handle more modern-day technological threats. Democrats believe in utilizing diplomacy over military force whenever possible. This is one of the greatest areas where Republican Homeland Security beliefs differ from those of Democrats. Democrats believe that excessive use of military force only encourages terrorists to use force against us in return, perpetuating the cycle of violence. They believe that diplomacy should be attempted in every situation possible, and military force should be used as a final resort if diplomacy does not work. Even when the nation’s security is threatened, Democrats are against using excessive military force, and instead wish to see force used only to the extent necessary to protect the nation’s people. They also believe in protecting the country through means beyond military strength, stating, “in addition to our military might, we must deploy all that is in America’s arsenal – our diplomacy, our intelligence system, our economic power, and the appeal of our values and ideas.” Democrats also believe that the United States’ dependence on Middle Eastern oil is a matter of homeland security, and that “to safeguard our freedom and ensure our nation’s future, we must end our dependence on Mideast oil.” Democrats do believe in maintaining the military in order to be prepared if force becomes necessary. They wish to see the military modernized, so that soldiers are equipped to meet the threats of the 21st century.